Dan Gilbert about to break ground on Detroit's next big thing

Detroit businessman Dan Gilbert plans to break ground soon on the tallest building in Detroit. But history suggests that plans for 'tallest towers' may herald the coming of a recession.
JC Reindl, Detroit Free Press

Rendering of the view of the Monroe Blocks project from Campus Martius.(Photo: Bedrock)

Anchored by a 35-story office tower at Monroe facing Campus Martius Park, the project features a series of mixed-use buildings tapering down as they approach Randolph Street two blocks to the east.

Combined with Gilbert's Hudson's site project, now under construction, and the planned expansion of his One Campus Martius (the former Compuware headquarters), the Monroe Blocks project promises to increase density of the central downtown and add several new buildings to the skyline.

Just as important, the project also will create almost 2 acres of new public pedestrian space on what has for decades served mostly as a surface parking lot.

The impact on downtown promises to be dramatic. In total, the Monroe Blocks project will offer 847,000 square feet of office space, nearly 500 residential units and 117,000 square feet of retail space.

That will translate into space for several thousand new employees, about 30 new retailers, and perhaps 1,000 new residents.

The work is expected to finish in 2022 — about the same time as Gilbert's Hudson's site project opens. Around that time, Detroit also will see other major developments opening, including the Gordie Howe International Bridge and Wayne County's new criminal justice campus in Midtown.

Cost and incentives

For Gilbert's major downtown projects — the Hudson's site, the Monroe Blocks, the expansion of One Campus Martius, and a renovation of the historic Book Tower on Washington Boulevard — the total investment is estimated at $2.15 billion.

Earlier this year, the State of Michigan approved $618 million in performance-based tax incentives to help pay for the work. That figure will nominally cover about 29 percent of Gilbert's costs. However, since the tax incentives are spread out over 30 years, the actual value of the incentives will be about 15 percent of the project costs.

Those so-called transformational brownfield incentives are the most generous ever awarded by the Michigan Strategic Fund. The size of the incentives was made possible by the passage in Lansing in 2017 of MIThrive legislation that created such incentives for projects of a size and importance to transform a downtown.

Both Gilbert and state officials have said the incentives are needed because market rents, though rising rapidly, remain too low to support the costs of complex, high-quality, high-rise construction.

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More of the details

Gilbert's Bedock real estate arm divides the Monroe Blocks project into two parts known as Block A and Block B, bisected by Farmer Street.

Thursday's groundbreaking is taking place on Block A, the site immediately adjacent to Campus Martius Park. Block A will see a 35-story glass and terra cotta office tower with large floor plates, high ceilings and sunny interiors.

The structure is designed to be Detroit’s first WELL Certified building, a standard that emphasizes a healthy environment through attention to light, air, water, fitness, nourishment and more.

Block A also will contain a 17-story, 148-unit residential building and a total of 66,000 square feet of retail space designed to attract signature shops and restaurants.

Block B, located at Monroe and Randolph Streets, will be largely residential, and designs are still evolving.

The two blocks (A and B) are bisected by Farmer Street that will be closed to vehicular traffic beginning Jan. 2 and converted to pedestrian-only open space. The converted street will combine with a courtyard at the center of the development to create nearly 2 acres of open public space.

New public spaces

Beyond the new buildings themselves, the project looks to boost downtown's pedestrian scene as well. With its interior courtyard and walkways, the Monroe Blocks will create about 2 acres of new public space that is now mostly a surface parking lot.

Melissa Dittmer, chief design officer for Gilbert's Bedrock real estate arm, refers to these new open sitting and strolling venues as "the experiences and spaces in between" that will create a new "language of public space here."

"That is what is going to set Detroit apart," she said. "We're designing these developments for the Detroit that we want to be."

A rendering of the view of the Monroe Blocks project from Cadillac Square. The multibuilding project is set to break ground Thursday, Dec. 13, 2018, in Detroit.(Photo: Bedrock)

Architecture and design

Following an international search, Bedrock commissioned the Danish architecture firm Schmidt Hammer Lassen based in Copenhagen to design the project alongside Detroit-based firm Neumann/Smith Architecture.

The team's master plan reintroduces historic alleyways and public access points, while prioritizing the public realm both outdoors and in each structure’s ground floor.

The Monroe Blocks is Schmidt Hammer Lassen’s first U.S. project to be built.

“Monroe Blocks is a project with a striking sense of place that connects people and spaces on a physical, social and cultural level,” said Kristian Ahlmark, partner and design director for Schmidt Hammer Lassen.

A storied history

The two blocks along Monroe Street that make up the development enjoy a storied history in Detroit. They hosted Detroit's first theater district, with Italianate stone and brick buildings built between 1852 and 1911. Those buildings were demolished in 1990. The National Theatre, which was designed by prolific Detroit architect Albert Kahn and opened as a vaudeville house in 1911, was spared.

Bedrock said it will retain the façade of the National Theatre and incorporate the terra cotta archway into the new development. Bedrock said the façade will be disassembled, cataloged, and relocated to span a pedestrian walkway that will bisect Monroe Blocks.

UPDATE: The date that project managers will close Farmer to vehicular traffic has been changed to Jan. 2, 2019. A previous version of the story said Dec. 17. This version is correct.

Contact John Gallagher: 313-222-5173 or gallagher@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @jgallagherfreep.